Lewis
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October 30, 2011
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There is a strong technological strain running through Occupy Wall Street, and software developers have been gathering at events in several cities to develop such tools for the demonstrators. One mobile app being developed, Shouty, would allow people to use their phones as radios, amplifying the human microphone at meetings in Zuccotti Park.
But the app that has gained the most attention is called I’m Getting Arrested. It allows users to write a message and identify recipients — friends, family, a lawyer — in advance. Then, if they are about to be taken into custody, they can push a button to send a text message blast. Its developer, Jason Van Anden, created it in two days after an acquaintance narrowly avoided an arrest at a demonstration several weeks ago.
Since its release, the Android app has been downloaded nearly 10,000 times. But it is unclear if it has ever been used for its intended purpose or, indeed, whether it would be useful. The app is simple to use; it takes a few seconds to set up a list of phone numbers and a message. But curiously, the message would not include information about a user’s location and does not facilitate connection to social networks like Twitter and Facebook, which are in wide use at political demonstrations.
The app also raises a question: If you do not have time to send a full text message when being arrested, will you have time to take out your phone, open the app and press the “Send” button for two seconds? I was once arrested at a political demonstration, and I do not remember having much time to pull out my phone.
The app’s primary use so far seems to be as a political symbol. Downloading it is a statement — as is, apparently, reviewing it. Those who have given it positive reviews have generally done so to express support for the demonstrators. Those who have panned it have criticized its potential users rather than its lack of Facebook integration.
At Zuccotti Park, and at Occupy marches and rallies, cellphones are ubiquitous. “I think people typically view the cellphones, or smartphones or the like, as a form of protection,” said Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Ms. Lieberman said the constant documentation of political demonstrations had served as a deterrent against aggressive action by the police.
When arrests are made, she said, video from cellphones has served as evidence to support demonstrators who say they have been mistreated; it was cellphone images that showed the pepper-spraying of young women by a New York Police Department deputy inspector.
But some people involved in the protests see cellphones as a mixed blessing.
One question is whether the police could search the contents of cellphones seized during arrests, allowing them to glean information about the person being arrested or about the movement. Courts in different states have issued conflicting opinions about the rules restricting cellphone searches. The California Supreme Court ruled in January that police officers could examine text messages and other phone data without a warrant during an arrest. In response, legislators passed a bill requiring a warrant, but the bill was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown this month. New York’s courts have not ruled on the issue.
The Police Department did not immediately respond to questions about its practices on searching phones during arrests.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group for personal digital rights, advised those carrying phones at demonstrations to lock them with passwords and to consider using apps like WhisperCore, which encrypts phone data.
The best solution for people going into tense situations is simply to leave their phones behind, said Hanni Fakhoury, a staff lawyer with the foundation. But he acknowledged that his advice was likely to fall on deaf ears.
“It kind of cuts against the advances of technology,” he said.
NYtimes
